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I survived my first solo road trip this past weekend. Hurtling down I-5 in my new red Mini Cooper at 100-120 mph was a bit of a rush for possibly as long as 30 minutes, then I got bored by the lack of turns. The trip to and from LA took about 5.5 hours down during the day and only 5 hours back driving overnight. The day was somewhat more fun as it was my first real drive in my car. I wasn’t keen on the 6.5 hours estimated drive time my GPS reported so I drove a bit like an asshole, weaving in and out past slower traffic, and cutting off and re-passing the same few cars that were doing the same thing to me all the way. I’ve never really driven like an asshole on the road before, and to be honest it was actually somewhat exciting. The night drive was calmer but felt a bit surreal… just endless black and blinding truck lights in my mirrors for hours.

Two things made my drive more bearable:

– The Smiths “The Queen is Dead”
– The audiobook of Garth Stein’s “The Art of Racing in the Rain”

There’s likely no one else in the world who can put your hopes, fears, and feelings to words like Morrissey. And he’s not even talking about you.

The latter turned out to be much more inspiring than I expected. It’s really a book about a very full life lived in a limited fashion as an extraordinary dog. It made me want to get a dog and take up racing. Most of all it made me appreciate being a person and having the communicative abilities that allow me to more significantly interact with the world, thereby creating a richer destiny for myself. It’s somewhat of a revelation to realize how much potential every life has, and how personally I’m lucky to have so few limitations and so many options. I haven’t really been taking advantage of my options lately… but I think I will.